Significant people in history Emily Wilding Davison VOTES!

Women didn’t have the right to vote Think back to the time of Queen Victoria, and her son, King Edward VII, and the beginning of the reign of her grandson, King George V Women didn’t have the right to vote

Do you think that is fair? Around 100 years ago, women did not have the same rights as men. Men were seen as more important and women were not allowed to vote in elections. Do you think that is fair?

Parliament, where laws are made, only included men and only men were allowed to vote in elections. This meant that decisions were made without women having a say.

What would it be like if you were never asked what you thought about things that were important to you?

Lots of women believed that not being allowed to vote was very unfair. One woman, Emily Wilding Davison, believed that women should be allowed to vote and be MPs so their ideas were heard in Parliament. She left her job as a teacher to work full time as a suffragette to campaign to make things equal for women.

The Suffragettes organised peaceful demonstrations to try and get people to listen to them. They also protested in ways that made them unpopular. They set fire to buildings, chained themselves to fences and smashed shop windows.

One of the leaders of the Suffragettes was Emily Wilding Davison. Emily Wilding Davison went to prison many times for her involvement in these activities. She was treated very badly in prison. Some of the Suffragettes who went to prison were later awarded medals for their bravery.

In 1911 there was a census (a count) to find out how many people lived in Britain and where they lived. Emily Wilding Davison hid in a cupboard in the Houses of Parliament, so that her address would be written down as ‘The House of Commons’ and she could claim the same political rights as men.

At a famous horse race in 1913, Emily jumped out in front of the King’s horse while it was running. She wanted to put a banner about votes for women on the horse. The horse hit her and she was killed.

In 1918, five years after Emily died, women over 30 were allowed to vote. Then, in 1928 women were given the same rights as men. Today, woman have the same voting rights as men, thanks to brave women like Emily Wilding Davison who fought for women’s rights.

Nearly a 100 years later an MP called Tony Benn put a metal plaque in the cupboard to remember Emily Wilding Davison, the night she spent in the House of Commons and her fight for women’s rights.